Chemicals and Glass 1800AD - 1900AD

The chemical industry of the North-East today is most closely
associated with Teesside but the early chemical industries of the 18th
and 19th Centuries were centred on Tyneside. The most important
chemical activity was the making of alkali. When mixed with fat, alkali
could be used to make soap, and mixed with lime and sand could be used
to make glass.

ALKALI FROM BRINE

Alkali-making started to develop in the 1700s and was linked
to increasing production of industrial products like cloth. Chemical
products like soap, dyes and bleach were increasingly in demand and the
need for glass also encouraged the industry. In 1798 John Losh and the
Earl of Dundonald took out a lease on a rich supply of brine pumped
from Walker pit and the salt from the brine was later used in the
manufacture of alkali. Alkali works were established by Losh, Wilson
& Bell at Walker-on-Tyne in 1807. The manufacture of bleaching
powder began at Walker-on-Tyne in 1830 and Losh Brothers soon
manufactured half the soda in England.

TYNESIDE ALKALI WORKS

In 1814 the Le Blanc process of making alkali from common
salt was introduced to Britain making production easier. Alkali works
opened at Tyne Dock 1822, Felling shore 1826,
Friars Goose (Gateshead)
1828 and Felling Shore 1834. Such works also produced soda, alum and
Epsom salts. One of the great problems associated with the alkali works
was pollution, mainly from emissions of hydrochloric acid fumes which
devastated the neighbouring countryside. One solution was to build tall
chimneys to drive the fumes further away and in 1833 the highest
chimney in England was built at the Friars Goose Alkali Works. The
Alkali Act of 1863 further reduced pollution.

TEESSIDE CHEMICALS

A chemical works was founded by Robert Wilson at Urlay Nook
near Egglescliffe in 1833 to produce sulphuric acid and fertilisers. It
was Teesside's first great chemical works. Teesside did not, however,
take over from Tyneside until the 1860s and 1870s. In 1859 huge rock
salt deposits were discovered at Middlesbrough by Bolckow and Vaughan
while boring for water at a depth of 1,206 feet. The following year
William James established an alkali company at Cargo Fleet and in 1869
Samuel Sadler set up a works nearby. Sadler's works produced synthetic
aniline and alzarine dyes and distilled tar. A new method of making
alkali called the Solvay process, introduced in 1872, made the Tyneside
industry uneconomic but was a boon for Teesside. Further salt deposits
discovered at Port Clarence by Bell Brothers in 1874 also boosted
Teesside production.

BRUNNER MOND

A number of salt works were established at Haverton Hill near
Billingham in 1882 by Bell Brothers of Port Clarence which became the
first firm to begin large scale salt production on Teesside. Salt
workers were brought in from Cheshire and housed at Haverton Hill. The
salt-making interests of Bell Brothers were bought by Brunner Mond
& Co of Cheshire in 1890 which became the giant of Teesside
chemical-making in the late 19th and early 20th Centuries. Meanwhile
rationalization of chemical firms in 1891 left only four works on
Tyneside.

BILLINGHAM CHEMICAL WORKS

The Chemical Industry was established at Billingham in 1918
by the Government for the production of synthetic ammonia. It was
intended for use in the making of bombs for the war. The 700 acre
Grange Farm at Billingham was chosen for the site. The war was over by
the time the plant opened and it had to adapt to new manufacturing. It
was taken over by Brunner Mond in 1920 and manufactured synthetic
ammonia and fertilisers. Brunner Mond merged with other great chemical
manufacturers in 1926 to form ICI. From 1928 anhydrite or dry gypsum
was mined from 700 feet below Billingham for use in the making of
fertilisers.

PLASTICS AND NYLON

The making of plastics commenced at Billingham in 1934 and a
new plant was established the following year for making oil and petrol
from creosote and coal through a process called hydrogenation. In 1946
another great chemical works opened on Teesside at Wilton on the south
side of the river. Further lands were purchased by ICI in 1962 at Seal
Sands where land had been reclaimed from the sea.

PETRO-CHEMICALS

Coke ovens used in the making of chemicals at Billingham were
replaced in 1962 by new plants utilising the steam naphtha process
which enabled the use of crude oil. This proved to be a much cheaper
process of making ammonia on Teesside. From 1964 to 1969 four great oil
refineries were erected at the mouth of the Tees, two by Phillips
Petroleum and one each by ICI and Shell. Their main purpose was to
supply the Billingham chemical industry. A 138 mile pipeline was built
in 1968 linking chemical works on Teesside with chemical plants at
Runcorn for the transportation of ethylene.

SALT-MAKING AT GREATHAM

Salt-making in and around Greatham (between Hartlepool and
Billingham) had been important in Medieval times but by the 16th
Century the industry had been eclipsed by South Shields on the Tyne. In
1894 the industry returned to Greatham with the establishment of the
Greatham Salt and Brine Company by George Weddell. The works was later
purchased by the famous salt-making company Cerebos in 1903

GLASS-MAKING

Glass had long been an important industry in the north since
stained glass glaziers were introduced to Wearmouth and
Jarrow
monastery back in 674AD. Sunderland and Tyneside were once again noted
for glass-making from the 17th Century and from the 19th Century
glass-making was particularly important. In 1827 about two fifths of
all English glass was made in the Tyneside area and in 1845 South
Shields was making more plate glass than anywhere else in England.
Sunderland was also rising to prominence as a glass-making centre.
James Hartley's Wear Glass Works was opened in
Sunderland in 1836 and
by 1865 one third of the sheet glass in England was supplied by his
Sunderland works.

BREWING

A chemical industry of an altogether different kind, but
linked to the demand for glass, was of course the beer brewing
industry. Major beer brewers in the region were Tetley's, established
in Leeds 1822, Vaux Breweries at Sunderland 1837-1999, The Lion Brewery
at Hartlepool (later Camerons)1852, and the Newcastle Breweries
established in 1890.